Saul of Tarsus

Saint Paul (c. 5 – c. 67) was an early missionary, but this is about when he was a villain and known as Saul, back before he became known as Paul the Apostle. He was from Tarsus but raised in Jerusalem.

When he was the leader of the Sanhedrin, he hated the early Christians and watched the coats of a group of Pharisees who were stoning Saint Stephen. He even arrested Christians who believed in Jesus in Damascus. He wasn't deliberately a bad man; he was just trying to protect the Jewish law and his forefathers' traditions, but he had lost sight of God. One day, while he and friends of his were going to Damascus again, a light from heaven struck him down. Jesus asked, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Saul then asked him who he was, and he revealed that he was Jesus, whom he persecuted. Jesus then told him to arise and go into Damascus, and he will be told there what he should do. He was then blinded for three days without food or drink. Afterward, a man of God, Ananaias, came over to bless him, and Saul repented and got his sight back.